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Telegraph

British trout is back in fashion – these are the best ways to cook it

Trout is quietly making a comeback at the dinner table, edging out the Atlantic salmon, which has long been crowned the king of fish but is now teetering on the brink of extinction. Four to five decades ago, trout featured on many restaurant and hotel menus. I remember serving it myself when working part-time in a hotel kitchen. The dinner-plate-sized fish was cost-effective, convenient and easy to stash in the deep-freeze – a reliable staple. My fishing friend and restaurateur Robin Hutson once told me about his trainee days working at Claridge's in the 1970s, when he was put in charge of the guéridon trolley which starred truite au bleu – an old-school French dish where trout are plucked from the restaurant's live fish tank and lowered into a vinegar-spiked court-bouillon within minutes, which turns the skin blue thanks to a natural pigment reaction. As the broth cools, the fish poaches, but in Robin's case, as he proudly lifted the fish from its aromatic bath and attempted to remove the meat for his eager diners, he realised – to his horror – the trout was still completely raw. The recipe I share here for truite au bleu recommends you test for done-ness before you present it to your guests with a grand flourish… More often than not trout was frequently served with brown butter, almonds and parsley – a classic crowd-pleaser back then – but perhaps we became tired of it. It certainly vanished from the menu. Then, a decade ago, Hugo Hardman and Arthur Voelcker launched ChalkStream with the aim of getting trout back on to restaurant menus – they sell fish, sourced from the rivers Test and Itchen in Hampshire, to top restaurants and direct to your door. In these streams trout can grow to an impressive three kilos (more like sea trout and small salmon in size), which produce generous fillets perfect for cooking, smoking or curing. These days, I often take a fish kettle – a long pan made for poaching whole fish – down to the riverbank. The first catch of the day goes straight in and gets served on toast with a bit of mayonnaise mixed with fresh herbs. A simple way to honour the trout (so rich as it is in omega-3 fatty acids and such an excellent source of protein) – as the recipes here do to delicious effect.